How diversification rates and diversity limits combine to create large-scale species-area relationships.

Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci

Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.

Published: September 2011

Species-area relationships (SARs) have mostly been treated from an ecological perspective, focusing on immigration, local extinction and resource-based limits to species coexistence. However, a full understanding across large regions is impossible without also considering speciation and global extinction. Rates of both speciation and extinction are known to be strongly affected by area and thus should contribute to spatial patterns of diversity. Here, we explore how variation in diversification rates and ecologically mediated diversity limits among regions of different sizes can result in the formation of SARs. We explain how this area-related variation in diversification can be caused by either the direct effects of area or the effects of factors that are highly correlated with area, such as habitat diversity and population size. We also review environmental, clade-specific and historical factors that affect diversification and diversity limits but are not highly correlated with region area, and thus are likely to cause scatter in observed SARs. We present new analyses using data on the distributions, ages and traits of mammalian species to illustrate these mechanisms; in doing so we provide an integrated perspective on the evolutionary processes shaping SARs.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138612PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0022DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

diversity limits
12
diversification rates
8
species-area relationships
8
variation diversification
8
highly correlated
8
diversity
5
diversification
4
rates diversity
4
limits
4
limits combine
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!